Where is Benson @11:15PM?

Here I am...under the bed! It's a good thing you are so stinkin' cute Benson because you scared the livin' daylights out of your mother. I had a brief panic attack. Love you!Good night precious boys!

P.S. Benson had his ENT appointment today. His ear canals are totally empty and clear of fluid and he passed his hearing test!! Wahoo!

Reece goes to college...& Mom gets a donut!

Saturday was a pretty awesome day. We made a deal with Reece that if he was a REALLY good boy for two days then he could go with Dad to school for a couple hours. Reece didn't waste any time and was almost perfect for two days. So on Saturday he packed his back pack and went to school with Spencer.

This picture doesn't show their trip to the vending machine. I'm pretty sure he had Sprite, chips, and some other candy that I can't remember.

While they were being studious--Benson and I had some serious fun! We walked next door to the U village, I ate a donut while Benson played on the playground, and then we shopped!! I got 3 shirts from gap for $3.00. I was pretty stoked!

We ended our Super Saturday with a picnic outside Spencer's school.

Top 8 reasons that make me a nerd!

Picture taken by Benson

1. I have a secret obsession and LOVE listening to the Celtic Women (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXeNNXhHotc&feature=fvst) & The Canadian Tenors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YITAzNvreKQ)!

2. I have to wear Depends for a month after giving child birth.

3. I have a love/hate relationship with moving. I LOVE that I get to de-junk my house and move onto a new adventure, but I HATE saying good-bye and leaving my comfort zone.

4. I can make my pinkie toe move all by itself while keeping my other toes still. I call it my "talking pinkie!"

5. When people ask when my birthday is, I say, "8-8-84 8 days early" and then I laugh because I think it's cool.

6. I get obsessive with vacuuming my car. It makes me giddy inside and seriously puts a smile on my face when I step into a fresh clean "Swagger Wagon"!

7.I cry at every sporting event when they play the National Anthem. To be honest, it's a little embarrassing. Our poor children...they are going to be soooo embarrassed when they play sports.

8. I think the Organ is the coolest instrument. I feel like a rock star when I pump it up and make the ground vibrate! It's a SWEET feeling.

FuNnY ReEcE!!!

Yesterday I took Reece to Dr. Kertesz office to get his stitches out. After our visit we stopped by Children's to return our unwanted Sensor to the Endo clinic. I told him we were going to run in and drop it off and then we'd go home. He responded with, "I can't stay in the car because some one would steal me because actually I am way to cute...I mean handsome." HILARIOUS!

Friends...

Madison and Hayes Devier

He looks like such a big boy in this pic

Why paint on paper when you can paint your forehead

The last couple days have been very relaxing. Almost ALL my friends have either moved or are on vacation (we MISS YOU COME BACK!!). We are moving in a week in a half and I'm to the point where I could move in less than two days easy. But, the boys and I have been enjoying stress-free and relaxing days together. It's been nice to just hang out at home with no agenda. We aren't really used to that, but it feels good. The boys have played so well together and think they are soooo hilarious! Today we took a cardboard box and slide down the stairs. They were in heaven! Then we put their swim suits on and walked over to U Village and played in the frog/turtle fountains. We ended the day with the Miller version of a jamba juice. Last week Spencer studied at home which was lovely! My favorite part was during the boys "quiet time". I sat next to him while he studied for the USMLE(med boards) and read a novel. There are always perks to being a student--even when it's crazy busy.

Where's the Dino?

Benson: "MOM, MOM, MOM".

Me: "What Benson?"

Benson: "Dino's in water"

After showing me the dino's he started drinking the water in the bottle. YUCK!

Pre-School boys

We had an AWESOME group for pre-school this year. The kids made MAJOR improvements with their social skills and with their alphabet. Brayden started reading this year which has given Reece the idea that it's his turn. He's doing really well and LOVES to read. We are going to miss these boys. Reece and Brayden take turns going to each others house to play almost daily. They are good little buddies.

These are "OP" glasses. This particular week we worked on words ending in "OP"
This week was "IG". These boys have way to much fun together.
They are the three musketeers.

Brayden West, Levi Whitmer, and Reece Miller

CGM (sensor) is a no go...for now.

We've had the Sensor on Benson for three days now and have decided that we are not going to go through with it. We've had a couple problems with it, which are:

1) 90% of the time it wasn't accurate,

2) Benson's bum is to small to fit the sensor and the silhouette (tube that dispenses insulin),

3) I don't feel like the timing is perfect. When we got the pump I KNEW we were supposed to get it and we desperately needed it. I feel like the sensor isn't what Benson needs right now.

We are going to come back to Children's every 6 months for appointments. That way we can keep our nurse, Barb, who does all our BG and pump corrections. She is amazing and we would be lost without her. Her primary job is to figure out type 1 diabetics under 3 years old. She is the master and it's worth the airplane ticket to come see her every 6 months so we can keep in contact with her. So, maybe in 6 months we will be ready. Who knows???

Buddy's friend...on trial.

I pulled this picture off of Medtronic's website. If you turn her belly into Benson's bum then you will know what he looks like. He's such a trooper--he doesn't even bother with them.

Benson got a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) yesterday for his pump (whose name is buddy). It's a little device that goes on his bum and reads his blood sugars every 5 minutes. Instead of checking him 10 times a day, we only have to check him 4-5 times. Because it checks his BG every 5 minutes it gives us a chart of what his BG's actually look like. It will help us better control his diabetes and will help illeviate hyperglycemias (low BG's which are super dangerous). The main reason we are getting the CGM is because Benson has been in the 40's atleast once/twice every day. His emergency system in his body no longer works because it's become immune to the lows. Most diabetics would be shaky, starving, irritated, and very lethargic if they were below 60. Last week at 10PM Benson was 43 and was super hyper jumping on his bed like a little monkey. That is scary. If you or I were 43 we would most likely be unconscience. The CGM has an alarm that goes off when he goes below 90 so hopefully we can keep him from going low so his emergency system will turn on again (it takes atleast 2 weeks with no low's to turn it back on).

We are now on Trial day #2. So far it hasn't been great. Our 30, 14, & 7 day averages have been in the low 170's (which for Benson is PERFECT!). Unfortunately the last two days his BG's have been in the 300's for 1/3 of the day. I'm not sure what is going on, and I really can't blame the CGM, but it's not helping us while on trial. We can't calibrate the CGM unless he is stable.

I will keep you updated on how things go. Lets pray tomorrow goes better then today.

Might I also add our newest struggle--Benson has decided he will no longer eat a banana in his sleep when he is low. Twice this week during the middle of the night he has been in the 40's and refuses to eat ANYTHING. No banana, fruit snacks, frosting, milk, juice. To be honest he has probably consumed at least 60 banana's in the last year in a half while sleeping. It's always been our "go-to" food when he's low. I have a feeling the terrible two's are going to be tough in the diabetic department. Suggestions are always welcome! :)

3rd times a charm...hopefully!

I have always known that my boys are very active--but I didn't realize how CRAZY active they are until Reece got stitches last Friday. It seems like every minute I am holding my breath hoping that his scar doesn't get hit/or run into.

I thought I was out of the clear because his disintegrating stitches were just about gone and I only had one more day before it should have been closed. But no...it all started when Reece climbed up his bunk bed and slipped and fell right onto our blue toy bin. Lucky for him, it was just a little bruise on his eye.

Then at 11:00PM I went to check Benson's BG's and tuck the boys in bed. Reece had his feet curled up under his stomach so I pulled them out and tucked him in nice and cozy. I jumped off the bed, went to pick up Benson's BG kit and BANG...I jumped onto Reece's bed to find blood all over his pillow and hands. He somehow hit his head on the side of his bed and re-cut his wound open.

Spencer was very kind and took him back to Children's ER (our 3rd trip in 5 days). They sewed him up with 6 stitches, told us he might want plastic surgery in a year because there will be ridge where his scar will form, and tried to get Spencer to change his story about how it all happened (that's what they do to catch abuse cases).

4 hours later (2:00am) Spencer and Reece came home. Reece had more Benzo's and was so loopy and HILARIOUS! I tell you what--those drugs make him a true comedian. He had to sleep with us that night because we were fearful he might fall out of bed out of lack of stability.

Spencer earns Husband of the year award!

Check this out...100+ boxes plus wrapping materials for FREE

Spencer saved the day (and lots of extra stress) by getting all these boxes for free off of craigslist. Sunday we were checking Craigslist periodically because free boxes after graduation go quickly because everyone is moving. He contacted this lady 5 minutes after she posted and got the boxes!!!! Wahooo.

We picked them up last night and then stopped by walmart to buy some packing tape and a new book to distract me from packing!!! I'm a little neurotic about packing so once I start I can't stop. It's addicting. We changed our moving date to July 4th so we still have 3 weeks. My plan is I can't pack until my book is read! That should distract me from packing or house to quickly.

Quarterly trip to the ER...& our new Harry Potter

Benson and Reece playing in the kitchen 24 hours before the incident...

I don't even have a good story to tell. For the first time in FOREVER, Spencer stayed home to study (the boys and I were gone for the majority of the day). The boys had just gotten out of quiet time and were in the kitchen getting something to drink. Reece turned around to go find me and somehow used his stellar smooth skills (which he inherited from me unfortunately) and tripped over himself falling right into the corner of our kitchen wall. 6 1/2 hours later we were home from the ER with 5 stitches. Normally I benefit from the ER's policy of "most critical gets first priority", but not today. I have learned that stitches is on the bottom of the priority list. Not only that, but we had someone who had never done stitches before performing the procedure. I think I almost lost it--I was sooooo upset. This is a forehead we are talking about people---not an arm. When we got home I showed Spencer the cut and brought to his attention that there was a white bubble sticking out between the stitches which I thought was fat. So, back to the ER for another 30 minutes for them to re-due their awful job. Ugh.

The funny part was that Reece was given a Benzodiazepine to calm him down so they could stitch him up. He was soooo loopy and hysterical. As we were walking out of the ER he said in a very drugged voice, "OH MOM I LOOOVE YOU!" His mouth is orange from the Popsicle he had at the hospital.

I also must give our friend Traci some serious credit. I'm pretty sure this is the third time I've called her and said, "can you take Benson, I need to run Reece to the ER". THANK YOU TRACI!

When Reece and I opened the front door from the ER Benson was standing at the top of the stairs with a marker in hand.
I said, "Benson, have you been coloring"?
B: Yes
Mom: can you show me?
B: YES!

Don't worry, this is only a fourth of his artwork. He also colored the toilet set, the tub, his bedroom door, and their night stand.

Pictures from our week with the Millers

Chad and Nicki at the Mariners baseball game

Mariner's game

You can't go to Seattle without eating some fish n' chips.
I love this picture because Candice and Nicki look EXACTLY a like.

Us girls had a BRILLIANT plan. We sent the boys to the temple Friday morning for their "man time" and then sent the kids with them to the zoo in the afternoon so we could go shopping downtown!!! We are geniuses! We came to realize at the end of our shopping trip that clothes speak to Candice and Chocolate speaks to me. She ended up with some cute clothes and I ended up with chocolate (Spencer even gave me $40 and told me I wasn't allowed to come home with it. I only spent $5.00 and that was on chocolate).

Thanks for coming! We had a total BLAST!!! Love ya!

End of 2nd year/White Coat ceremony

At the end of UW's second year they have a white coat ceremony where they celebrate the transition into clinical training (meaning for the rest of his career he will be doing his training in hospitals instead of the classroom). It was a really nice event and they had a lot of great advice for the students. Spencer's parents and Candice came for the event which made it all that better!

It's kind of crazy to think that Spencer won't be in the classroom anymore. We have spent the past 6 years going to school so it will be a transition for us to have him on a more "real-life business" schedule. It will be busy but Spencer is really looking forward to using all the knowledge he has gained and applying it to the clinical side of things. It will definitely suit his strengths.

Brad & Traci are our really good friends who have spent the last 2 years with us. We LOVE them tons and are really going to miss them when we move.

Chad, Spence, Nicki, & Candice (her husband Kayle is gone for 10 weeks at boot-camp)

Do we look 20 and 18? We went out on a date and some richy rich guy told us he thought we just graduated from high school.

This is Spencer's ICM group. They spent every Wednesday morning together interviewing patients. Dr. Tina Chang is his mentor and has been so good to us.

Family time after finals

Kristi cont...

My new camera was having serious difficulties and so I used my old camera for most of our trip with Kristi. I just downloaded those photos so here goes more pictures of our trip with Kristi! Reece is trying with all his might to stick his whole head through the gate to observe the rainbow at Ballard Locks.
Reece playing Spencer's I-Touch at the Mariner's game.

The gang at the game! It was a sweet night--14-2 Mariners win!

Kids think they are so funny!

And you wonder why I have people tell me ALL THE TIME I'm 18.

I found pics of Nicole!!

Here are some pictures from Nicole's graduation dinner at Johnny Carinos.

Guests included: Nicole and "friend", Mom, Dad, Kristi, Natalie, Heather, Grandma and Grandpa Dunkley, Aunt Sylvia, me and the boys (and McDonalds food for the boys!).Happy Graduation--you're a babe!
Benson, Juliann, Aunt Sylvia, and Nicole

Candice survives a week with the Millers

Candice was very kind and drove the boys and I from Boise to Seattle. The boys at this point started their "over-stimulated so let's go crazy" behavior. They were great for Kristi and my family but showed Candice every crazy behavior known to man. But, she survived and so did we--which is a true miracle. Here are some things we did:

Seattle Aquarium
Benson finally braved the touching pool. He loved the starfish!
Ballard locks

This is Benson showing off is "little stinker" mood.

The little stinker turns cute at Gas Works park for a nice picnic.

And the other stinker also turns cute--for the camera anyway.

Candice and Benson

It's a miracle they can pull off these handsome looks...ok, so they are dang cute kids and practically perfect. They just used their Years supply of whining in one week. So I'm still recovering.

Stealing mama's heart.

Pike's place

Reece LOVES the King salmon. They give them out as samples. It only cost $29.99 a pound? CRAZY!

Candice was a great guest. She got me on a workout routine and helped with the boys. Thanks for visiting and being so patient with the kiddos. We love ya tons!